About Me

Hello!
A few years ago, when I was first married, every ward I went to had you fill out a questionare asking: What are your hobbies?
I always left this blank because I felt watching movies in my jammies and shopping were not the "typical" response. So over the years I have tryed to fill in that blank space with things I LOVE to do and so here you have it.... some of my hobbies!
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Contact me~
JloMamaJama (@) aol (dot) com

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I have seen tonz of fun advent calendars out there and wanted to try my hand at a new kind this year. Actually I am giving this one as a gift so I wanted to package it all cute too.

I started with 25 little tins that have see through windows on the lid and come in a clear little bucket.

Next ,I had planned on finding cute vintage Christmas pictures to put in the little windows but ended up just printing off some pretty numbers because I didn't have my number stamps at home. I made them a bit smaller than the lid so I could sandwich them between the window and clear contact paper...making them all sealed up and protected. (also you get a sneak peek of the next days goodies)

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I used the paper inside the bucket they came in as a template and quickly cut out some Christmas paper to make the gift self storing and cuter.

Then I stuck a STRONG magnet in the center of each tin before I filled them all with some of my favorite Holiday treats.

I could have stopped right there but thought it would be fun to include a strip of paper inside each one that lists one activity or idea for you (or someone your giving it to) to do that day.

I also had my kids choose some sweet things they would say to the Birthday Person if they were sad to help cheer them up. Then they wrote their little messages down and I placed one in each can so when the can is opened that is the first thing they see.

Each can has a "Open Me If...." scenario on the front and on the back is a cute little word.

They are all placed into a Kit and are to be opened as needed!

Fun, inexpensive,different and sure to put a smile on a sad little face.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

We are slowly sifting through clothes and making piles for a future Garage Sale. I came upon this shirt which is a size 14. Our oldest is 7, so it would be a LONG time before this shirt would have fit.... but I love me some owls and couldn't bring myself to toss it out.

Being the huge fan of Naartjie kids clothes that I am, I took a closer look at this shirt and figured I could save it, mix it up and turn it into a comfy Fall dress and leggings for my 3 year old.

I started with the leggings, I cut the thermal fabric sleeves off of the shirt and sewed them onto a pair of size 4 panties.

Leggings-Finished!!

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For the dress, I turned the shirt inside-out and took everything in about an inch and a half. Neck (on both sides), sleeves (I also pleated these), and sides. And for more of a fitted look I put a pleat in the back of the dress also. Dress-Finished!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

My daughters last day of first grade is today! Last night I was racking my brain trying to think of something fun I could make for her teacher for the last day. We LOVE her teacher, she is amazing. This is what I decided on.

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I remember seeing one like this awhile back and loved it. In fact I think I might do one for all my kids to go on the wall in my toy room.

All you need is:

An 8x10 shadow box, cardstalk paper, a box of crayons, elmers glue and a sharp knife.

I could have printed off her teachers name onto the paper but decided to use up my letter stickers. You could also print the big initial in light colored ink out on the paper as a guideline but I just drew and cut out the letter F on another paper and traced it lightly onto the cardstalk.

It's pretty self explanatory and is done in no time. A fun teachers gift that will stand out among all the teachers mugs she is probably going to get.

I am finally getting around to posting the tutorial for the Doorway Puppet Theater I made a few months ago. It really is pretty simple and can be changed easily to fit the child it is going to.

*So to start you will need a large piece of fabric or a curtain that's at least half an inch wider than your door frame, and cut out an opening for the "stage" (for mine I measured about 18 by 16 inches). And I just used up some old fabric.

*Next, to make the stage's "curtains," I grabbed a contrasting fabric that I had on hand and cut out a square that's slightly larger than the opening. Snip that square in half, then pin both pieces to the back of the opening at the top.

*The one I saw had these super cute triangles so I decided to do the same but it is optional. I cut triangles from all of the fabric scraps and also added a few more fabrics and pinned them to the front of the opening at the top.

* Pin two 12-inch ribbon "tiebacks" to each side of the opening's front.

* Next frame the stage- and then I sewed the curtains, triangles, and tiebacks in place — by stitching a thick ribbon around the opening.

* Sew a loop of ribbon onto the curtain's top corners, then hang from nails (I used tac nails) on the door frame. If you don't want to use nails I think it would also be cute if you made it a tab top and put a shower curtain rod, or the smaller ones that go in closets, through the tabs.